Alan Squire Publishing

A Small Press With Big Ideas

The Existential Experience of Mystery: Joanna Biggar on Her new Novel "Melanie's Song" "I was attracted to the mystery genre not just because I love mysteries but because I think mysteries are at the heart of everything" Joanna Biggar A missing girl, a cultural revolution, a friend tangled in the mysteries of both. How did Melanie, the most reserved of the group of young women Joanna Biggar first introduced us to in That Paris Year, become a folkloric figure of so many stories: all at once a revolutionary, a young mother, a bank robber, a mystic and a spiritual healer? Joanna … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin Shares two Poems from her Upcoming Book "Containment" and "One Thousand Cranes" both "speak to the suffering, sacrifice, courage and price that is paid when horror trumps humanity." Earlier this month, August, I served again as a member of the Faculty at the 28th Annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera California. This is a truly special conference for me as this is the forum that launched me into a career in travel writing back in 1991 when I won its first travel writing award. This year, 2019, the conference … [Read more...]

"Sakura no Sono" by Linda Watanabe McFerrin "And the branches of the cherry trees were lit with flames, the sparks—petals of fire, carried on the wind." In the early spring cherry trees are often described as being ablaze with blossoms. This is a good, if commonplace, description of that strange and enormous pink event which spreads through the treetops and consumes the sky in a colorful flurry. In "Sakura no Sono," an apocalyptic vision of a real event which happened to her mother, Linda Watanabe McFerrin's cherry blossoms have been struck ablaze by an American firebombing. "And … [Read more...]

David Downie on "Melanie's Song" David Downie a fellow francophile travel-writer and novelist in his own right, gives his thoughts on the new novel by Joanna Biggar. “Joanna Biggar explored Paris as a post-adolescent during the distant Age of Kennedy in That Paris Year. Now she explores the backwaters of American revolutionary culture during the so-called Summer of Love in Melanie’s Song. With wit and aplomb, Biggar reminds readers that love may be free but has its consequences. A poet and journalist, when she turns her talents to storytelling, the result is a page-turning novel where … [Read more...]

Joanna Biggar Presents a Chapter from her Upcoming Novel In the fifth chapter of "Melanie's Song" we "encounter a gathering of personalities and links that will weave into the fabric of the novel." At the beginning of the fifth chapter of Melanie's Song, we find J.J. leaving Mendocino after her first visit, as both friend and journalist, to investigate the burnt-out commune in the forest where her missing friend, Melanie, was rumored to have lived. Soon we also encounter a gathering of personalities and links that will weave into the fabric of the novel. We meet some of those tied … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson Shares a Poem from his Upcoming Collection Like the city itself, the Northwest Washington, D.C. neighborhood in which I was raised has changed radically, and yet it has not. There is a certain way in which the streets -and the row brick houses- still provide context, and deep, deep, memory. The other day, I took a walk on my block and found myself standing in front of the house in which the neighbor/friend we called "Little Man" was raised. He kept the front porch company. And he was one of the saddest people I have ever met. He killed himself when he was 7. This poem is a … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson Talks Life and Works with Rose Solari In ASP's first recorded interview, Reuben Jackson talks to Rose Solari about working, living, and writing his newest collection "Scattered Clouds". "Jazz, ballet, poetry, his life, and an exciting new project with Alan Squire Publishing..." So begins ASP Co-Founder and poet Rose Solari at the beginning of her interview with writer Reuben Jackson. The two go way back: Rose met Reuben when they were both publishing under the now-defunct "Gut Punch Press." Reuben won the Columbia Book Award for his first collection under Gut … [Read more...]

The Writing World is Raving About ASP's October Releases From National Book Award Winners to Poets Laureate to travel-writers, historical fiction authors, and even Jungian psychologists, it seems that ASP's October releases are on the collective mind of the writing world. Maryland Poet Laureate, Grace Cavalieri, speaks praise for Linda Watanabe McFerrin's new Legacy Book, "Navigating the Divide." "Scattered Clouds" by Reuben Jackson "Reuben Jackson's marvelous poems map the poles between ode and lamentation, politics and intimacy, sagacity and audacity. He writes for … [Read more...]

This August Linda Watanabe McFerrin Now that we are descending down the stairwell of the latter half of the year, counting all of our aches and sorenesses, collecting fruit like pomegranates, persimmons, things with long names and histories to couple with the widening mouth of nights, I have so little to say to you, considering how short the days have become. The sunlight, growing watery, is not shared easily.   You are opening up new spaces in the back of our bookshelves, hoping the shadows filling them will leave some kind of testament to this other world of subterranean … [Read more...]

See Literature Happening! August Readings, Workshops & More This August Grace, Reuben, Richard, and the indie community are braving the heat to spread the word. ASP and its authors have four awesome events to recommend for lovers of literature and supporters of indie publishing. The dog days bring rejuvenative tidings! Three exciting literary events in-doors and air-conditioned, and one event tree-shady and for-a-good-cause to bring together lovers of literature and champions of human rights! Huzzah! First, on Saturday, August 10th, the Maryland Poet Laureate is reading in … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin Breaks Down the Art of the Book Introduction Poet, author, travel-writer, Linda Watanabe McFerrin, speaks with us about the oft overlooked literary introduction, and breaks down the intent of her own author's introduction in "Navigating the Divide". What is the difference between a foreword, a preface, and an introduction? I prefer to go by the Chicago Manual of Style which, I believe, is what ASP uses. That’s what I usually use in my own editing, and what we [The Wanderland Writers] use for our “Wandering” series. I think the CMS says that an introduction … [Read more...]

Joanna Biggar Reveals the Heart Center of her Newest Novel Novelist Joanna Biggar opens up about her latest novel "Melanie's Song," its impotant relationship to the setting, California, and its place in her body of work. "Melanie's Song," the latest novel from Joanna Biggar, focuses on unraveling the mystery of a missing girl somewhere in California during the cultural revolution of the 1960s and '70s. After 2015's That Paris Year which followed a group of young women on their year-abroad at the Sorbonne—their youthful flings as well as their many rites of adulthood— Joanna … [Read more...]

What does Patricia Bracewell have to say about "Melanie's Song"? The author of "Shadow on the Crown" and "The Price of Blood" weighs in on Joanna Biggar's new novel. "Joanna Biggar’s novel Melanie’s Song is like a sweetly familiar refrain from the not-so-distant past. Nostalgic, redolent with the sights and sounds of the sixties and seventies, it is a tale of broken hearts, healing friendships, and the tender yet powerful bonds that friendships forge. It is a bittersweet delight." —Patricia Bracewell, author of "Shadow on the Crown" Pre-Order Melanie's Song Patricia … [Read more...]

Diane LeBow Shares her Thoughts on "Melanie's Song" The President Emerita of Bay Area Travel Writers, Diane LeBow, gives her thoughts on Joanna Biggar's new novel,"Melanie's Song." "In Melanie's Song, Joanna Biggar takes you along on an amazing ride of mystery and intriguing details, combining personal turbulence masterfully set against the reality of the politics of the '60s and '70s in the USA. Her writing, both crisp and lyrical, draws you into each scene with suspense and tempting detail. Of course, there are those earlier memories of Paris. It's quite a trip." —Diane … [Read more...]

Bastille Day By Joanna Biggar When J.J., the narrator of That Paris Year, departed after finishing her exams, she left in June, too early to catch the extravaganza that is le quatorze juillet in Paris. But she knew about the legendary festivities she had missed in her adopted city: fireworks, parades, the laying of wreaths for the heroic dead—, with “le grand Charles” de Gaulle himself saluting from a grandstand. J.J. already had her own, American-flavored July 4th sensibility, as she remembered lighting sparklers and pinwheels while eating home-made peach ice cream in … [Read more...]

Rose Solari's Interview in The Kenyon Review Shows Us What it Means to be a Literary Citizen Kristina Marie Darling from the Kenyon Review sat down with ASP Co-Founder and poet, Rose Solari to talk literary citizenship, ASP, and editing as a career. ASP Co-Founder and poet, Rose Solari. Read the Kenyon Review's interview with Rose Solari Here The Kenyon Review recently published an interview with ASP's own Rose Solari concerning several different operational and philosophical aspects of the modern independent press. One of the questions that the interviewer, … [Read more...]

Anne Lamott and Jasmin Darznik Share their thoughts on Navigating the Divide "Bird by Bird" author, Anne Lamott, and bestselling author of "Song of a Captive Bird," Jasmin Darznik, praise Linda Watanabe McFerrin's new Legacy Book. "I have loved everything I've ever read by Linda Watanabe McFerrin. Her prose and poetry are filled with amazing women, charm, wisdom, and light. She is both soulful and precise, eloquent and full of life." —Anne Lamott, author of "Bird by Bird" PRE-ORDER NAVIGATING THE DIVIDE Anne Lamott is the author of seven novels, Hard … [Read more...]

The Contemporary Poets and Musicians on Reuben Jackson's Mind Poet and jazz scholar, Reuben Jackson, discusses three contemporary poets and three contemporary jazz musicians he admires. Saxophonist Kamasi Washington (left) and rapper/poet Tarica June (right) are among the six artists discussed by Reuben Jackson. On Tuesday we ran an article featuring two glowing blurbs for Reuben Jackson's latest poetry collection Scattered Clouds. They came from two young stalwarts of the American poetry community: National Book Award winner, Terrance Hayes, and Maryland's own Abdul Ali, author … [Read more...]

Terrance Hayes and Abdul Ali Speak out about "Scattered Clouds" National Book Award winner, Terrance Hayes, and New Issues Poetry Prize winner, Abdul Ali, give their thoughts on the newest Reuben Jackson collection, "Scattered Clouds." "Reuben Jackson's marvelous poems map the poles between ode and lamentation, politics and intimacy, sagacity and audacity. He writes for everyday neighbors, folkloric brothers, and imaginary sisters. He writes for Trayvon Martin as well as Frank Sinatra. He nimbly charts the broad spectrum of our lives and loves. I have admired Reuben Jackson's work … [Read more...]

PANK Publishes Early Review of "Scattered Clouds" by Reuben Jackson Poet Risa Denenberg describes her first experience reading Reuben Jackson in her review for his upcoming collection "Scattered Clouds" "Abashedly, I admit that I had not read Jackson prior to reading Scattered Clouds. But that is exactly why this compilation of poems from his first book with the two sections of newer poems is such a gem. If some of the poems are familiar, you will nod as you read them. And if not, you will feel like you’ve been missing something. Scattered Clouds further establishes Jackson’s role … [Read more...]